The first major development project in the Cypriot state after the Turkish invasion was the Nicosia-Limassol highway. It marked the first post-war scandal that shook Cypriot society.
Society alone, because it did not disturb politics, neither this nor what followed.
It was Spyros Kyprianou’s government in the late 1970s that decided to build the road.
Two bids were submitted. One from the Cypriot company “Ioannou and Paraskevaides” and the other from the Greek company XEKTE. President Kyprianou decided to award the contract to XEKTE without being accountable to anyone, even though his associates identified weaknesses and gaps in their bid.
The project was supposed to be completed in two years and cost ten million pounds. In the end, it took ten years and cost twenty million. Pounds!
No one was held accountable, and Spyros Kyprianou’s political career was not affected. Amidst the scandal’s uproar, he was re-elected for a second presidential term in 1983.
The “XEKTE scandal,” as it became known in history, was the first, followed by so many others that it is now considered expected that behind every major state project there will be mismanagement, incompetence, delays, shady bids, bribes…
Perhaps we need to make a decision. In this state, those we elect (yes, we elect, they don’t appoint themselves!) to govern us cannot accomplish anything larger than a common sidewalk.
And even that, usually with unbelievable schemes that emerge a few months after the project’s delivery.
Today, what is in progress? The largest investment ever made in a development project.
€1.2 billion in the Larnaca port and marina. Due to current events, it is known what is happening. The company undertaking the project has not yet made any investment, has received an extension in starting the work, but for the past two years has been managing the port and marina and collecting millions.
Collecting instead of spending. Two whole years. Now that the extension is expiring, it is in conflict with the government, likely to end up in court, but investment is something we clearly won’t see.
Another major project, worth €500 million, is the construction of the terminal station in Vassiliko for the introduction of liquefied natural gas for electricity generation.
Contracts were signed in 2019, and the project was supposed to be delivered by September 2022, but it is still not even halfway there. Endless delays and cost increases, conflicts and arbitration proceedings that may cost us many more millions.
The first phase of the Limassol-Saittas highway, 3.6 kilometers long and costing €31.1 million.
Contracts were signed in June 2020, and it was supposed to be completed by March 2023.
It is April 2024, and the May extension given to the company is expiring, but there’s no way the road will be finished.
The Paphos-Polis Chrysochous highway. Costing €73 million and supposed to be completed by December 2024. But alas.
So far, only 30% of the project has been executed, and the contractor demands an additional €22 million and 33 months’ extension. He attributes his claims to unforeseen and adverse ground conditions and delays on the part of state services; the state rejects them, and there are already legal disputes regarding contract terms.
Tunnels, bridges, underground and overground passages, well, shouldn’t we expect adverse conditions?
Not that we fare any better with smaller projects.
For example, the formation of the Liopetri River, an €11 million project, was supposed to be delivered in March 2023, and so far only half the work has been done, with extensions upon extensions.
Let’s not forget the traffic cameras; from 2007, when the first system was denounced and cancelled, it took 15 years with announcements and postponements to start installing the system.
And now, after the cameras were installed, they discover problems they couldn’t foresee and rush to fix them retroactively.
Let’s not even mention the Waste Management Units. Let’s not talk about sewage (remember Paphos?). Or yesterday’s firefighting aircraft that couldn’t arrive on time, and we’ll burn.
That’s why I say. Let’s make a decision. Corruption and incompetence reign. That’s who we are. A worn-out country. That needs 3,232 regional governors, mayors, deputy mayors, municipal councillors…
